Shopping Saturday

Today I....
Purchased 1 standing fan, 1 coffee machine and 1 coffee grinder from expats relocating back to the States. Total cost was a mere 20 Euro - I LOVE the expat exchange!! They gave me filters and coffee as a bonus gift.

Went to the tire store to purchase winter tires and have them put on, but the wait was 4 hours!!! 4 hours!! 4 hours! Yes, I was that suprised. I had no book with me, I had many other errands to run before the stores closed, I was not waiting 4 hours. I will be returning this week....

Then I went to Stuttgart Mitte and.....
Purchased 1 2007 kitchen calendar (have to keep track of the Gelbe Sack pick-ups somewhere...I think I already explained the Gelbe Sack, but if you don't know what it is, ask and I'll explain again.) and 1 2007 pocket calendar for my purse.

At Galeria Kaufhaus, I finally found jeans that aren't too long. They were ridiculously expensive, but given that the pair I am currently wearing are just too big, I bought them anyway. I can't wait to go shopping when I'm in Michigan at Christmas. Target, Old Navy, TJ Maxx, Kohl's - those places where you can buy basic, inexpensive clothes.....

At Zero, I bought a really, really cute blazer. I might just take a picture of it for you, if you ask nicely.

At this really expensive kitchen store, I bought the two most inexpensive items....a canister for the coffee that I now have. :o) And two door-stops, because until now, I have been using a piece of the stuff the neighbor used to patch the wall to hold one door open and a big rock from the fish tank that used to be in my apartment (they left all the rocks/stones from the tank on the balcony) to hold the other door open.

I wanted a coffee from Starbucks, but the line was too long. :o(

At the inexpensive deco store, I bought a teapot "oven." It's a little ceramic thing that holds a tealight candle and then you put your teapot on top of it to keep the tea warm. It looks like what goes under a potpurri pot. The one I bought was 2.95 Euro. (The one I did not buy at the super-expensive store was 29.95 Euro.)

I might as well have purchased a parking spot in the parking deck, too. I spent 3.5 hours in the city and paid 8 Euro in parking fees!

From there, I went to the Drink Market and returned the empties and bought new.

Then I went to pet store for cat litter and I bought this really cool thing for the cats. It's a metal frame that hangs on the heat register and has a nice soft material covering. It's practically a kitty hammock. How nice am I to my cats? (Of course, they haven't figured it out yet and they got all freaked out when I put them on it, but I have confidence that once they figure it out, they'll LOVE it.)

Then I went to Obi, because I need a new bathmat and the ones that I looked at downtown were just too expensive. But I thought they were expensive at Obi, too, and I didn't really like any of them, so I didn't buy one. Gotta keep looking.....

Last, but not least, I went to the grocery store. Cereal, soy milk (plain and chocolate), bread, cheese, meat, the basics, nothing too exciting. But, I couldn't find eggs. I need eggs to make the brownies from the mix that my Mom sent. I couldn't find them anywhere, but I felt too ridiculous to ask if they had eggs. Because if they did, I should have found them. And if they didn't, I should probably know where to buy them, other than the grocery store (can you tell that I haven't made any eggs in the last 4 months?). I guess I have to ask where one is supposed to purchase eggs when I'm at church tomorrow or at work on Monday (unless my favorite German reads this post soon and advises me where to purchase eggs....;o)

Then, I made two roundtrips up and down the stairs to bring everything in. The fan is still in the car, but that'll just have to wait until tomorrow to go into the basement.

Valuable lessons learned:
1. Do not procrastinate in purchasing winter tires.
2. Take a book to the tire store.
3. Take the train downtown, do not drive.
4. If you need to get by someone when you're shopping, you have to make your way through - no one is going to stand aside for you to get by. And if you stand aside for other people to get by, you might be there all day.
5. If you need help when you're shopping, with the other shoe of the pair, for example, you have to approach the staff, not wait for them to approach you.
6. Do not go into H&M when they are having a sale. IT'S JUST NOT WORTH RISKING INJURY!

I'm sure it's probably the same in the States, but Christmas stuff is EVERYWHERE already. The ice rink and a few of the Christmas Market huts are already set up downtown. But even though Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, I can't bring myself to buy anything Christmas or start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I am, however, very much looking forward to the Christmas Markets!

Gotta go, Jemma's playing with something she shouldn't be........